Guides, Tips, Walkthroughs for Great Indie Games

Star Traders RPG: Military Officer’s Guide

This guide is designed for Star Trader Captains who want to play Military Officers, loyally serving a single faction. Star Traders is a trading simulator and space RPG available on Android, iPhone, or iPad.

Currently I feel that the key to the Military Officer lies in combining Conflict and Contract to create success. Unlike the Rumor and Resource driven Merchant/Explorer class, the Military Officer must find success in the relationships between the Syndicates and Factions.

Electronics are critical resources for Military Officers during Surveillance.

Weapons are critical resources for Military Officers during Blockades or any Combat.

Military Officer must seek Rank, Edict and Trade Permits with all friendly Factions

Records are critical resources because they are produced by Military Action and can be sold without Trade Permit. Records let you recover from small negative Reputation easily

Warrior is for Boarding. The Military Officer’s best bet in combat is to get on board the enemy ship and kill the Captain in a hand to hand duel. Warrior, Weapons and Ship Boarding Action Upgrades should be a Military Officer’s top priorities.

Sometimes I Stockpile some Artifacts in case of Jail

If you are playing a Capital Ship (25+ Hull) you should raise Pilot to at least 10 before taking command of a Capital Ship

If you are playing a Military Ship (75+ Crew) you should raise Intimidation to at least 10 before taking command of a Military Ship

If you are playing an Operative (Blockade/Surveillance) you should raise Tactics to at least 10 before taking to Battle at Secure Sector (Rating 7 and Above)

I find the Military Officer is at his best with a Crew armed to the teeth for whatever task is at hand. A Military Officer could sell all his capture weapons for profit and Reputation. Initial leveling and Faction Rank may grow faster, however, the Captain needs to consider the wars ahead.

Take for example the Longbow Carrier, one of the best for a traditional Military Officer. With 100 Crew and 90 Cargo during War the Captain can Cargo 25 Water-Fuel and still have space for more than 60 Weapons and 5 Luxury Rations. This configuration is Epic in Combat and Blockade.

That same configuration is a disadvantage during Surveillance. The Military Officer is attempting a complex action with a full ship and receiving no bonuses for the Cargo. Therefore, the Military Officer above strives to have at least 60 Weapons and 60 Electronics ready for use when Spy War or Solar Wars occur.

A full Cargo hold slows down the ship, increases random encounters and makes docking at civilized planets more difficult. The traditional Military Officer will offload some Weapons in a secure location before returning to HQ.

The Military Officer will be consistently doing missions for multiple Factions. While doing Blockade Missions he may take Bounty Hunter missions.

However, the Military Officer’s real focus is on participation in Conflicts. Each Conflict has a different type of reward, but when used in combination they have a powerful way of elevating the Captain’s standing with his Faction. The Military Officer will be sure to maximize payment, reputation and Faction rewards for his work by ensuring that he has the appropriate Death Warrants (Edicts,) Permits and Ranks. The Military Officer will be sure to minimize his expenses by repairing, healing and purchasing supplies at the most favorable Faction. The Military Officer will more often than not avoid more rumors than he will attempt to reach. Rumors like open battle, shortage and so forth mean very little to the Military Officer. However, a wise Military Officer may still find some rumors very helpful — Weapon Surplus is one that comes to mind.